Chiral asymmetry during the EWPT from CP-violating scattering off bubble walls

We compute a net electric current during a first order EWPT arising from the asymmetric propagation of fermion chiral modes due to a CP-violating interaction with the Higgs. The interaction is quantified in terms of a CP-violating phase in the bubble wall that separate both false and true vacuum phases. We comment on the possibility of this current to generate a seed magnetic field and its implications for primordial magne- togenesis in the early Universe.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the XLVII of the International Symposium of Multiparticle Dynamics, Tlaxcala, Mexico, September 10-15, 201

The improved nuclear parton distributions

In this paper we propose an improvement of the EKS nuclear parton distributions for the small x region of high energy processes, where the perturbative high parton density effects cannot be disregarded. We analyze the behavior of the ratios $xG_A/xG_N$ and $F_2^A/F_2^D$ and verify that at small x they are strongly modified when compared to the EKS predictions. The implications of our results for the heavy ion collisions in RHIC and LHC are discussed.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure

Finite Temperature QCD Sum Rules: a Review

The method of QCD sum rules at finite temperature is reviewed, with emphasis on recent results. These include predictions for the survival of charmonium and bottonium states, at and beyond the critical temperature for de-confinement, as later confirmed by lattice QCD simulations. Also included are determinations in the light-quark vector and axial-vector channels, allowing to analyse the Weinberg sum rules, and predict the dimuon spectrum in heavy ion collisions in the region of the rho-meson. Also in this sector, the determination of the temperature behaviour of the up-down quark mass, together with the pion decay constant, will be described. Finally, an extension of the QCD sum rule method to incorporate finite baryon chemical potential is reviewed.Comment: Minor typos corrected. To be published in the review section of Advances in High Energy Physic

Locating the critical end point using the linear sigma model coupled to quarks

We use the linear sigma model coupled to quarks to compute the effective potential beyond the mean field approximation, including the contribution of the ring diagrams at finite temperature and baryon density. We determine the model couplings and use them to study the phase diagram in the baryon chemical potential-temperature plane and to locate the Critical End Point.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, conference paper from ISMD 201

Boundary and expansion effects on two-pion correlation functions in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We examine the effects that a confining boundary together with hydrodynamical expansion play on two-pion distributions in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We show that the effects arise from the introduction of further correlations due both to collective motion and the system's finite size. As is well known, the former leads to a reduction in the apparent source radius with increasing average pair momentum K. However, for small K, the presence of the boundary leads to a decrease of the apparent source radius with decreasing K. These two competing effects produce a maximum for the effective source radius as a function of K.Comment: 6 pages, 5 Eps figures, uses RevTeX and epsfi

Fast connected component labeling algorithm: a non voxel-based approach

This paper presents a new approach to achieve connected component labeling on both binary images and volumes by using the Extreme Vertices Model (EVM), a representation model for orthogonal polyhedra, applied to digital images and volume datasets recently. In contrast with previous techniques, this method does not use a voxel-based approach but deals with the inner sections of the object.Postprint (published version